A Stranger's Touch. Tori Carrington

the same. Straight. Long. Basic. Much like the woman herself.

      “I was just going to make the same comment about you,” said Mona.

      Dulcy waved her free hand, trying to come up with something witty to say, anything to divert the woman’s attention, but failing miserably. Instead, her gaze focused on the violets in her hand. She glanced back at the secretary. “Here—I brought these for you.”

      Mona’s face immediately brightened, making the fact that she wore no makeup almost a nonissue. She put down the files and accepted the small pot. “For me?”

      Dulcy smoothed her hair and checked the simple twist at the nape of her neck—a nervous gesture she hadn’t used for at least five years. She frowned and forced her hand back to her side, fisting it to make sure it stayed put. “Yes. I was, um, at the market the day before yesterday and thought they’d look nice. You know, on your desk.”

      There it was again. The gaze.

      Dulcy wasn’t sure if it was the severe way Mona pulled her salt-and-pepper hair back into a bun, or the fact that she’d worked in a law office for so long, but Mona Lyndell had a stare that any prosecuting attorney would envy. And under which any witness would cave.

      And Dulcy would do well to remember her own advice to clients. Less was more when it came to answering questions.

      A door from the opposite side of the offices opened and Barry Lomax’s substantial frame filled the empty space. “I thought I heard your voice. How’s my girl doing this morning?”

      Dulcy’s tense smile relaxed into a genuine one. She crossed the area rug and fondly kissed Barry’s cheek. He’d always reminded her of a cross between Kirk Douglas and Sean Connery in his bearded days. And he always made her feel good about the choices she’d made in her life.

      Barry had a large hand in her ever making it as a practicing attorney, and was the sole reason she, Jena and Marie had been able to form their own partnership. At sixty-seven, the renowned trial attorney was long overdue for retirement. But with no children of his own and his original partners having retired long ago, he wanted to guarantee that everything he’d built up wouldn’t disappear along with him. When Dulcy, Jena and Marie signed on as partners six months ago, they’d done so with the express stipulation that the firm would always hold Barry’s name. In return, they received a boatload of wealthy, established clients, a swanky downtown address and the best working environment they could have hoped for.

      Her smile widened. “You know, you’re going to have to watch that ‘girl’ and ‘honey’ stuff from here on out. We wouldn’t want anyone getting the wrong idea,” she admonished.

      Thrice divorced—twice to women who had started as paralegals at the firm—Barry wasn’t a newcomer to the gossip mill. He pulled at the waist of his slacks, a habit he’d picked up a while ago after dropping twenty pounds. “Actually, I think that’s more incentive to keep calling you ‘girl.’ There are worse things I can think of than having everyone believe there’s a little hanky-panky going on behind the scenes here.”

      Dulcy crossed her arms. “Oh, that’s just what I’ve always aspired to. To have everyone think I slept my way to the top.” She laughed. “Anyway, that’s not what I’m talking about. If you call me those cute little endearments in public, the entire legal establishment will be calling me ‘girl’ in no time flat. I can hear it already. I’m arbitrating an important case and the opposing attorney asks, ‘Is that all, honey?”’ She shuddered. “No, thank you.”

      “Oh, I don’t know. You could try what you did with me the first time I slipped and called you ‘honey’ in public.”

      Dulcy’s face went hot as she recalled the incident. She’d been all of twenty-one, participating in a mock trial. With solid ties to University of New Mexico School of Law, Barry had been visiting counsel and had agreed to sit in as the judge. “Any more questions, honey?” he’d asked. She’d bristled, then shot back, “No, I think that about covers it, pookems,” and the entire room had erupted in laughter. Including Barry.

      It was the beginning of a mentor-student relationship and, even more important, a friendship that Dulcy cherished.

      “Can I get you two some coffee?” Mona asked.

      Dulcy uncrossed her arms. “Thanks, but I can get it myself,” she said as she had nearly every morning for the past six months.

      Barry held out his white handmade ceramic cup with a real antler as the handle. “Mighty fine of you to offer, Miss Lyndell.”

      The instant Mona had taken the cup and disappeared down the hall, Dulcy lowered her voice. “I still think she has the hots for you.”

      Barry’s deep laugh boomed through the room. “And I still think you’re off your rocker, Dulc. Mona’s been my secretary for thirty years. Don’t you think I’d know if she had the slightest bit of interest in me?”

      Dulcy patted the front of his starched shirt. “I don’t think you’d notice if the woman stripped down naked right in front of you.”

      “Which would never happen.”

      She started to walk toward her office. “How would you know? You never look up from your latest case file long enough to see if it already has.”

      Another chuckle. “Did I know what I was letting myself in for when I signed you gals on as partners?”

      Dulcy winked. “Actually, I still suspect you did it just to give half your clients a heart attack.”

      “Speaking of partners in crime, where are yours this morning, anyway?”

      Dulcy glanced at her watch. “I’d say Marie’s doing the parking spot hunt outside the county courthouse right about now. And Jena…” She smiled. “Well, Jena’s probably running late, as usual for a Monday morning.”

      Which was exactly what Dulcy had been counting on. She hadn’t dared breathe a word to either of her friends about what had happened two nights ago. And, thank God, neither of them had pursued the matter. From what she understood, Jena and Marie had closed the club down. By the time they’d made their way upstairs and knocked on her door, they’d figured she was dead to the world and had let her be. After all, everyone knew Dulcy was as boring as they came.

      If they only knew… She tightened her hand on the door frame. Yes, well, if she had a say in the matter, they would never find out.

      The recollection of her reckless behavior sent a shiver shimmying down her spine. She didn’t even know Quinn’s last name. And he didn’t know hers. Which was the way she’d wanted it, wasn’t it? She worried the back of her engagement ring with her thumb. After all, she was a scant five days away from marrying someone else.